The Candidates
The Candidates is the second episode of the eleventh season of The New Girl, The Election. The episode revolves around the candidates for the upcoming Twin Branches High presidential election. The episode was released on April 26, 2012. Synopsis It's time for the Presidential elections, and all the candidates are stepping forward! Who will be the best President? Plot In Ms. Prez's mobile classroom, the students watch the morning announcements hosted by Justin and Erik. Erik reports that it is Nomination Week for the school's elections. He subsequently asks those considering signing up to ask themselves why they should run. Ben's Story As the monitor turns off, Ben questions if he ever truly wanted to run or if he was only going to because of Jessica. After class, Jessica approaches him with the newspaper displaying both of them. She guarantees him that the publicity will make him more popular and therefore increase his chances of becoming president. Jessica notes that she expected him to be happier and Ben confronts her about their attitudes after the earthquake. He confesses that he is hesitant about running for president, as he cannot get any more popular. Seeing how shocked she is, he asks her why it is so important to her that he runs, however Jessica's answer is interrupted by the football players cheering Ben. She declines to finishing what she was going to say, promising to discuss it later. As Jessica leaves, Spencer, Howard and Hector greet Ben. They thank him for what he did during the earthquake and recommend that he runs for president, though Ben tells them he is still unsure. Howard expresses regret about never running for class office to the other boys, apprising Ben that this is his final year of high school. Howard discloses his hopes to get into Kingston University, an Ivy League school on the east coast at the expense of being away from his hometown, family and Zoe. As the bell rings for class, Spencer pulls Ben aside and inquires about his reluctance towards running for president. While he is troubled about being obedient towards Jessica, he still has a strong desire to run. Spencer advises that he talks to Jessica about his concerns. Later that day, Ben is in the line for lunch when Justin accosts him about the rumors going around regarding his potential candidacy for the upcoming elections. He warns Ben that he will smear his reputation, using rumors claiming that Ben had plastic surgery to alter his appearance. While denying that he had any surgery, Ben defends his appearance transformation as something he is proud of and that he would counter any smear campaign with positivity. Nonetheless, Justin promises that he will find something to use against him and leaves. Ben sees Jessica watching from a booth and approaches her to discuss how they acted after the earthquake. He notes how he told her that he was done obeying her and that he still means it. He additionally mentions the tension between the two because he wanted to help Denni when she got injured, while Jessica did not seem concerned. Jessica tells him that she was worried that she would lose him and apologizes for ordering him around. She leans over to kiss him and they exchange I-love-yous. She confesses that she wanted him to run for president because it would be something they could do together the way he does with other people. Upon hearing this, Ben notices all of the people he rescued in the earthquake and realizes that he will run for president. He informs Jessica of Justin's threats towards him. While Ben disagrees with retaliating with evidence against Justin, Jessica says that she will do it on her own, neglecting to specify what she will do. That evening, Ben meets with Justin in the parking lot. He hands him a manila folder, containing personal letters Justin was planning on sending to Angie. Ben tells him that he's decided not to use the letters against him. He goes on further to say that he wants to become president to make a difference and that he loves helping people. Justin thanks Ben for not using the letters and agrees to fight a clean campaign as well, for they have other candidates to worry about as well, prompting Ben to ask who else is running for president. Sara's Story Rewinding back to when Erik asks contenders why they want to run, Sara wonders who has time to be president. After class, as she wraps up her final laps of swim practice, Sara sees a boy splash into the water. She rebuffs his coquettish jokes and the boy introduces himself as Cameron Clark, a lesser known Spartan on the boys' swim team. When asked for her name, Sara berates him, to which Cameron explains that he simply wanted to assess how she felt with him. She again rejects his flirtatious advances and walks away, asking herself why men are "idiots". Afterwards, Sara runs into Nick on the school's front yard, whom she informs that Sam left with the other girls. They joke about Sara's stringent schedule and the immaturity of the other boys' at school. As she walks away, Nick proposes that she runs for president, citing that she has a quality that would make her perfect for the role. Sara declines, due to her schedule and her belief that she would not win. That night, Sara overhears her little sister, Emily, and her friend Kimi's conversation. When prodded for not going to Brian's party, Emily explains that, as a Kessler, her father would not permit it, prompting Kimi to ask if being a Kessler is the only thing she is allowed to be. Kimi calls Sara uncool and proceeds to give reasons why she is before Sara intervenes to make casual conversation with them. Afterwards, Sara reflects on Kimi's comment about her being a "one-dimensional zombie" and worries that Emily may follow her footsteps. The next day, Sara is going to Ms. Lee's temporary office to sign up for the elections, when she runs into Nick. She enlightens him with the news that she is running for president, clarifying that the inspiration came from her aspiration to be a role model for her sister. Nick requests to be campaign manager, which Sara joyfully accepts. Colt's Story Flashing back to when Erik asks contestants why they would want to run, Colt mocks him, wondering who cares about the election. Afterwards, Colt helps Denni walk to her next class. Colt comments that he is glad that she is able to walk again and that he has to thank Ben for his help. Reminding her of when she saw him and Howard talking earlier, she mentions that Howard is graduating this year, surprising Colt, who states that it feels like something that doesn't happen, leading Denni to bring up their plans for after high school. She goes on further to lecture him about changing his work ethic if he wants to go to college. Colt brushes it off, asserting that college is not for him, however promises to think about it at Denni's request. Having saw Justin just walk by, Colt decides that he wants to run for student council because while he himself does not find it particular useful of his time to be president, he thinks highly of Denni's advice. On the contrary, Colt insists that he'll become president by 'Colting' before the end of the day, irritating Denni who believes that 'Colting' it would negate her point about being responsible, though Colt promises that he wouldn't do anything adults wouldn't. Subsequently, Colt goes to Ms. Lee's temporary office to sign up for President. As she searches for the signup papers, Colt flatters Ms. Lee in effort to convince her to let him bypass the sign up process and immediately declare him President. Though initially hesitant, with more compliments given Ms. Lee agrees, thereby making him President. Minutes later, however, Colt is called into Principal Shapiro's office to rebuke him for attempting to circumvent the election process. She demands he apologize to Ms. Lee for taking advantage of her and drop out of the race for President, as he would not take the duty seriously. Colt refuses to do the latter, maintaining that he is a serious candidate and elucidating that the Presidency would help him get into college. He ultimately gets Principal Shapiro to allow him to run by naming what one of his proposals would be. That night, Colt goes to Denni's house. She teases him for not being able to 'Colt' his way into the Presidency, however subsequently apologizes when noticing his dispirited mood, attributed to having to do actual work to become President, Colt explains. Denni cheers him up, assuring him that she would be by his side through the election as his campaign manager. Colt earnestly discloses that she is the first to talk to him about college, hence his apathy towards it. They kiss and Colt voices his enthusiasm about potentially winning the election. Taylor's Story After school, Taylor and the nerds are setting up the map for Ogres 'N' Elves at Pepperoni Toni's. Angie expresses her excitement for having a nerd run that can represent the clique. While at first thinking that the nerds are talking about her, Taylor subsequently realizes that they are referring to Ben. She additionally grasps that Ben is more popular than her. Upset, she walks out of the school, staving off tears. Brendan follows her out and she divulges to him that she thought all of the nerds were alluding to her. Brendan consoles her, cheering her up and inviting her back inside. Taylor stops by the bathroom to freshen up where she finds Jessica, standing in front of the mirrors. Jessica taunts Taylor for being unpopular and having an unpopular boyfriend, unlike herself. Jessica reveals that as First Lady, she would need assistance from the AV club members, including Brendan, who she would enlist as her personal bodyguard. Seeing her fury over the proposal, Jessica says that Taylor put her through worse when she was Head Cheerleader, leading Taylor to the revelation that Jessica overthrew her for power; framed Zoe for leaking the tape of her dancing with Brendan so that the cheerleaders would not vote her as Head Cheerleader; formulated a plan to break up Ben and Denni so that she could date Ben and make him the next President to get her First Lady privileges back, after having been dumped by Justin. Taylor vows that she won't get away with her scheme, however Jessica again taunts her, contending that she would seem power hungry should she try to expose her. Nonetheless, after Jessica leaves the bathroom, Taylor declares that she now must run for President to foil her plan. Bonus Scene Ms. Lee goes to Principal Shapiro's office to give her the signup sheets. Ms. Lee notifies her that, in addition to Justin, Ben and Colt, Sara, Taylor and Amanda would be running. Earlier in the day, Amanda goes to Ms. Lee to tell her that she would be voting for Ben, however Ms. Lee informs her that the voting process has not begun yet. Amanda then tells her that she is going to run for President instead. Characters Category:Episodes Category:Year 4 Category:The New Girl Category:Season 11: The Election